Could the Ghost of Randy Edsall Beat Syracuse to Kevin McReynolds?

While Randy Edsall has left the Big East, Syracuse’s former rival could still be nabbing wins over the Orange, this time in recruiting battles. SU’s biggest fish still swimming with less than two weeks before Signing Day is Kevin McReynolds, who is currently on his official visit to Mississippi State this weekend. The Washington D.C. defensive tackle tweeted Friday morning he was waiting for his connection flight in Atlanta before a few days in Starkville.

The Fizz spoke to his high school coach this week. It appears the race is down to the Orange, UCLA, Kansas State and Mississippi State. But McReynolds admitted this week in-state Maryland has jumped into the fray.

“It’s a school I’ve been to a million times and I feel like I know a lot about Maryland but now they have a new coach. It’s in the back of my mind and makes me want to go up there and visit.”

McReynolds was not even considering the nearby Terps despite finishing 9-4 and second-place in the ACC Atlantic division. But with the addition of Edsall, it appears the Terps are playing ball. McReynolds plans on announcing Feb. 2nd, so he still has some time to take that final visit to College Park, although next weekend he is slated to look at Kansas State.

The above picture is from McReynold’s Twitter/YFrog page. He included no accompanying text for any of these pics from the All-American Bowl.

It would seem Maryland entered the fray too late (McReynolds took his official trip to CNY in early December) to make up for the time Syracuse and UCLA have been in on him. But the sheer thought of Edsall stealing the hulking defensive tackle at the buzzer is almost too much to stomach. A Syracuse alum and one-time assistant takes bitter rival UConn to a BCS berth then robs elite recruit at his new job 400 miles away just a week before Signing Day.

Prepare for The Fizz’s acclaimed National Signing Day coverage in less than two weeks. On Feb. 2nd Team Fizz will have you covered with live blogging and interviews with the commits all day long. Also, cast your Syracuse vote in the Volvo Big East Challenge. Grass roots movement – it’s go time.

Interesting to note how Oregon handed McReynolds an ultimatum and lost. He had planned to visit Eugene last weekend, but the Ducks wanted him to fly out today instead – forcing him to choose between visiting Starkville or Eugene. Chip Kelly and co. wanted to gauge just how interested McReynolds was (who had been wishy-washy on visiting Oregon all season). Once the DT balked on changing his trip to MSU, the Ducks took themselves out of the mix. Good to be the BCS National Championship runner-up and able to strong arm Top-100 recruits. Wow.